Sir John McLeod Scarlett, KCMG, OBE (born August 18, 1948) is head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Prior to this appointment, he had chaired the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). On the Orders insignia, St Michael is often depicted subduing Satan. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6)[1] is the United Kingdoms external intelligence agency. ... The Cabinet Office is a United Kingdom government department. ... The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) was founded in 1936 as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence. ...

Biography

Fluent in Russian, Scarlett was educated at Epsom College and Magdalen College, Oxford where in 1971 he received a first class degree in History. Shortly afterwards, he was recruited by MI6 and served in Moscow, Nairobi (1973-1976) and Paris. In 1994, after a tit-for-tat row between the UK and Russian authorities, Scarlett was asked to leave Moscow where he had been MI6's "station chief". (Read: Moscow's Experience with the Current MI-6 Chief). Russian (русский язык ) is the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages. ... The Tower and main entrance as seen from across Main Lawn The Grade II listed Tower and main building,[3] demonstrating the architectural theme of a large number of the buildings on campus. ... College name Magdalen College Latin name Collegium Beatae Mariae Magdalenae Named after Mary Magdalene Established 1458 Sister college Magdalene College, Cambridge President Professor David Clary FRS JCR President Jessica Jones Undergraduates 395 MCR President Eloise Scotford Graduates 230 Location of Magdalen College within central Oxford , Homepage Boatclub Magdalen College (pronounced... This article is about the study of the past in human terms. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... Nairobi (pronounced IPA: ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. ... This article is about the capital of France. ...

He retired from MI6 as Director of Security and Public Affairs in 2001. He took on the role of head of the JIC just three days before the September 11, 2001 attacks. A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly...

The normally secretive intelligence services were thrust into the public gaze in the Summer of 2003 after the death of the eminent government weapons expert, Dr David Kelly. Kelly had been found dead in the Oxfordshire countryside near his home, after being exposed as the source of allegations that the government had "sexed-up" intelligence regarding existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The "classic case" was the claim that Iraq could launch Weapons of Mass Destruction "within 45 minutes of an order to do so" - Dr Kelly had privately dismissed this as "risible"^{[citation needed]}. For other persons named David Kelly, see David Kelly (disambiguation). ... For the Xzibit album, see Weapons of Mass Destruction (album). ... This article is about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

Scarlett gave evidence at the Hutton Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Kelly's death. It became clear that Scarlett had worked closely with Alastair Campbell, then the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy, on the controversial dossier, with Campbell making drafting suggestions which the inquiry found may have "subconsciously influenced" Scarlett and the JIC. This influence may have had deleterious effects on the quality of the assessments presented in the dossier. For instance, the Intelligence and Security Committee made several criticisms in their report "Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction — Intelligence and Assessments": The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... Iraqs Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government, also known as the September Dossier, was a document published by the United Kingdom Labour government on 24 September 2002 on the same day of a recall of Parliament to discuss the contents of the document. ... The Intelligence and Security Committee is a unique committee, as it is not a committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

"As the 45 minutes claim was new to its readers, the context of the intelligence and any assessment needed to be explained. The fact that it was assessed to refer to battlefield chemical and biological munitions and their movement on the battlefield, not to any other form of chemical or biological attack, should have been highlighted in the dossier. The omission of the context and assessment allowed speculation as to its exact meaning. This was unhelpful to an understanding of this issue."

John Scarlett became the head of SIS on 6 May 2004, before publication of the findings of the Butler Review. Although the review highlighted many failings in the intelligence behind the Iraq war and the workings of the Joint Intelligence Committee, it specifically stated that Scarlett should not resign as head of the Committee and SIS. is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... On February 3, 2004 the British Government announced an inquiry into the intelligence relating to Iraqs weapons of mass destruction which played a key part in the Governments decision to invade Iraq (as part of the U.S.-led coalition) in 2003. ...

Knighthood controversy

Scarlett's appointment as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen's New Years Honours List 2007 was criticised in the media by some who believe that certain honours have been given unfairly to officials and supporters loyal to the government during the 2003 war in Iraq. Scarlett, while Chairman of the JIC, was the principal author of the September Dossier, a document partly by which the Prime Minister justified to Parliament the invasion of Iraq and which was later found to be "flawed" by the Butler Review (see above). However, despite the claims of preferential honours, the award of a KCMG is normal practice for all heads of SIS and senior FCO and British diplomats. On the Orders insignia, St Michael is often depicted subduing Satan. ... The New Year Honours 2007 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 30 December 2006, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2007. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... The Palace of Westminster, known also as the Houses of Parliament, is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence [section] 6), or Her Majestys Secret Service or just the Secret Service, is the British external security agency. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. ... This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ...